The blueberry industry has grown four fold in the past three decades and is an important source of economic growth in rural communities. The current mechanized system for harvesting blueberries utilizes rotating bars that beat the blueberry bushes to dislodge the blueberries. Once the berries are dislodged, they are caught on hard plastic catcher plates that direct the berries onto a conveyor belt, which transfers the fruit into a box.
Prior art designs have included various amounts of catcher plate padding to attempt to minimize berry bruising. However, the padding increased the thickness and weight of the plates and the padded plates still caused an unacceptable amount of bruising. The padding also frequently tore—which not only resulted in bruised fruit but also interfered with the flow of the fruit to the harvester conveyor belt.
The need exists for a more efficient and less damaging way to catch the blueberries as they fall from the bush so that bruising is minimized, and the size and weight of the blueberry catcher plates are also minimized. The catcher plates described herein comprise a frame with a (preferably) neoprene rubber catcher sheet stretched between the frame components, as well as a protective sheet positioned on the bottom of the frame. The protective sheet further supports the catcher sheet and prevents damage to the catcher sheet from debris on the ground. The inventors' catcher plates decrease bruising and simultaneously reduce the weight and bulk of the catcher plates while not interfering with the smooth flow of the berries across the plates and onto the conveyor belt.